Ariel Sharon dies: Former Israeli prime minister’s life in two minutes

Ariel Sharon, the controversial former prime minister of Israel has died at the age of 85.

Sharon came to power in 2001 after a landslide victory in elections and will be remembered for his attempts at peace with Palestine despite decades’ worth of support for Jewish settlement.

Ariel Sharon (right) will perhaps be best remembered for the ceasefire agreement made with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas (left) in 2005 (Picture: MOSHE MILNER/AFP/Getty Images)

A renowned and somewhat controversial military commander, Sharon had turned to politics after serving in the Israeli War of Independence, the Six-Day War in 1967 and fought countless battles with Palestinian forces.

As prime minister in 2005, he announced a ceasefire with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and began a unilateral withdrawal of troops from Gaza and parts of the West Bank.

British prime minister David Cameron said Ariel Sharon, pictured here with former US president George W Bush, was one of Israel’s most significant political figures (Picture: AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

But amid growing resistance from within his Likud party, Sharon founded the centrist party Kadima.

In January 2006 he suffered a severe stroke and slipped into a coma from which he has never fully recovered.

Sharon was a controversial figure, known for his aggressive military tactics and pro-Israeli politics before a change of tack after becoming prime minister in 2001 (Picture: AP Photo/Max Nash)

A divisive character, Mr Sharon was seen as one of the strongest Israeli advocates of peace in the region.

However, his reputation will also be tarnished by reports of a massacre of Palestinians in 1982 by a Christian militia group after Israeli forces had invaded Lebanon.

In June 1982 when servinf as Israeli defense minister Ariel Sharon (foreground) oversaw the advance on Beirut, Lebanon, during the Israeli occupation (AP Photo/Israeli Defense Ministry)

British prime minister David Cameron said Israel had lost ‘one of the most significant figures’.

And former US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, described him as: ‘A man of enormous courage … a wonderful, historic leader.’

Ariel Sharon, shown here praying at the Western Wall, passed away today at thee age of 85 after being in a coma for nearly eight years (Picture: EPA/JIM HOLLANDER)